Thank You and Goodbye
Last week, Gateway Seminary honored us with a Celebration of Service event. It was a humbling moment for us, commemorating twenty years of meaningful service with the Gateway family. The kind words, personal tributes, and unexpected gifts created precious memories to cherish as we move into our next demanding ministry role. Thank you to everyone […]
Moving Into the Future
Gateway Seminary has selected Dr. Adam Groza as our eighth president. He will take office next month and lead us into the future. His selection now coincides, still to my surprise, with me leaving Gateway to become the president of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. One of my regrets is not being […]
An Outsider
In a recent article, “The True Cost of the Churchgoing Bust,” Derek Thompson wrote, “As an agnostic, I have spent most of my life thinking about the decline of faith in America in mostly positive terms…. Only in the past few years have I come around to a different view. Maybe religion, for all of […]
An Anniversary
Ten years ago this week, our seminary experienced the monumental announcement of the sale of its property in the San Francisco Bay Area, its move to Southern California, and plans to change its name to Gateway Seminary. The announcement thrust our seminary into a season of transition, which shaped us personally and professionally. All of […]
Kindness
Being kind is not my strength. In forty years of public ministry, it’s hard to remember anyone ever complimenting me for being kind. My wife normally gets those accolades! However, kindness is a Christian virtue – a part of God’s character we are mandated to emulate. It’s definitely a trait for me to work on. […]
Trained for Transition
Gateway Seminary is experiencing significant transition. We are preparing for a new president, implementing a hand-off model of leadership change, and saying goodbye to a long-time leader. My unexpected candidacy to be the president of the SBC Executive Committee has further complicated the process. Many organizations equate transition with turmoil. Not Gateway. During this transition, […]
The Prayer Team
Many years ago, when I stepped out of pastoral ministry into executive leadership, I was overwhelmed and knew I would not survive without spiritual support. I decided to write a column in the Northwest Baptist Witness asking for people who were already praying for me to form a prayer team. Note the careful qualifier – […]
Masterful
Hearing Dr. Brian Kennedy, declaring truth with a Bible in his hand, is an exquisite pleasure. He consistently and seriously communicates biblical truth, with a street-wise demeaner and practical sense that connects with listeners from every background. For me, his pastoral preaching has been life-giving and spiritually sustaining. Dr. Kennedy is the senior pastor of […]
Rhonda Kelley
Our friend and colleague, Dr. Rhonda Kelley, passed away recently after battling cancer for the past few years. Rhonda was the wife of Dr. Chuck Kelley, former President of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. She was an iconic leader, impacting millions of women through her work editing The Women’s Study Bible and other published material […]
Sobering
Death has a way of bringing life into focus. Over the past year, several of my friends have died. It has been a sobering reality. As a pastor and ministry leader, bereavement ministry has been a steady part of my work for four decades. But, for the most part, those situations have involved older people […]